Meanwhile, Across the Sea...

So I came short of 50,000 words in this year's nanowrimo, somehow managing to come in about 1,900 words under.  First time in the last three years I didn't clear the 50k mark.  I ain't even mad.  My main problem this year might have been too much research, too much getting caught up in the world-building and not concentrating on pushing through and not looking back.   I suppose I probably could have finished if I hadn't spent a bunch of time putting stuff like this map together:

Then again, that's part of the fun for me.  Coming up with a semi-believable world to explore and hopefully have the readers or audience or whatever explore it too.  This isn't even a final map.  There are rivers to carve, some mountains need to be moved, and a massive forest to cultivate at the foot of those Northern peaks.  Also, Starshadow Bay is a little bit too far north, so some tectonic shifting may be necessary...

See what I mean?  I blame the folks over at the Cartographer's Guild for this sudden fictional geography fixation, even though they don't know who I am, because I only lurk those forums.

Game of Thrones isn't back until 2014. You need your epic fantasy fix.

An Arrow in the Moon launches on Tuesday, 08/20/2013.  The intention is for a normal update schedule of Tuesday and Thursday.  It's brightly colored Disneyesque characters in horrible situations.  Maybe not quite George R.R. Martin horrible, but pretty violent.  The opening sequence is a pretty brutal (well, as brutal as my drawing skills are capable of portraying) fight scene, just to make sure people know off the bat that despite my somewhat cartoony style, I'm not shooting for kid's stuff.  Well maybe if your kids were like me and like violent medieval fighting...  But chances are they're not.  You decide, I'm not raising your damn kids, take some responsibility for once.

Sorry, about that.  Come back, I've changed.  Anyway, doing this comic has made me remember how time consuming the whole full-color, draw-ink-color process is, even though I'm doing almost all of the art for this thing on computer.  If I want to even remotely remain on target with this thing, I might be changing the art style after the opening sequence to something more streamlined.

On that note, I think Smith-Micro's Manga Studio 5 is my software of choice now.  I've worked with Autodesk Sketchbook 6 and Art Rage 4 in the past year and this might finally be the full package as far as comic artist software goes.  I'll probably be dedicating my next blog to the annoying journey of frustration that is drawing/painting software.  (I almost tried to install my copy of Photoshop 7, but though better of it.)

You thought I gave up again, didn't you?

Got the post comic-con, back to work, jacked-up sleep pattern for a while there.  The one where you're ripped back into the normal world where you sit a a cubicle and have to catch up to the stacks of paperwork that built up like squatter villages while you were out having fun.  Depressed and tired from playing catch-up and pushing paper for a week, you can't muster the energy to blog or draw or much of anything creative-wise.  Not familiar with that?  You go to hell.

No seriously, don't go to hell.  I didn't mean it.  Here's some concept art from my now very soon to premier webcomic.  You can check out the page I set up at http://anarrowinthemoon.thecomicseries.com

But don't go there yet.  Unless you're a fan of CSS layouts and no content.

An abandoned fortress at the edge of the Ermynnland

Cearynth Covylli, the Queen of Rivers

The crown worn by the King or Queen of Rivers is a living length of Snake Ivy woven into a circlet with a Star Aquamarine at the front.

The Forest is Watching

More symbol design for my upcoming webcomic.

Within the ancient forest of the Aermyn, you are never alone.